


Iced Americano, one brown sugar

by iced_latte



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, How Do I Tag, M/M, barista!Yuta, basically the barista au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 18:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9398072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iced_latte/pseuds/iced_latte
Summary: Taeyong was a regular customer at the recently opened café near university. His friends find it funny.





	

“Hyung, why are we here again?”

 

Jung Jaehyun didn’t know why they were stopping by at the café near the dorms again.

 

 _Red Thread_ was a new café near the university dorms that opened a week ago. It was quaint, very red, and had the nice ambiance that coffee shops had. It also had a nice selection of rare books and vinyl records that people could choose from. Plus, they had really fast wi-fi.

 

And ever since Taeyong checked it out on their opening day, he’s been stopping by every day since then.

 

“I’m thirsty?”

 

Jaehyun could only look at the older male in disbelief.

 

“You’re… _thirsty_? Hyung! We could’ve just stopped by a convenience store!”

 

His protests fell on deaf ears as Taeyong, with his ears red, stood up and went to the counter in haste. Jaehyun stared in disbelief once again. They’ve been inside the café for close to fifteen minutes and they didn’t order anything then. Jaehyun initially offered to order for them when Taeyong didn’t look like he was about to stand up soon, only to be declined—quite vehemently too. And it was then that he noticed why.

 

Standing behind the counter was the university’s soccer co-captain Nakamoto Yuta.

 

With a smirk, Jaehyun filed away that information for future blackmail. He almost felt sorry for Taeyong, struggling and very much red in front of the smiling Japanese. It was quite funny how he was so obvious. And also very embarrassing. When he finally came back to the table, Jaehyun couldn’t keep the grin off his face. His eyes going back and forth from Taeyong to Yuta who was busy crafting their orders.

 

_“One hot chocolate and one iced Americano for Taeyeon!”_

 

Jung Jaehyun had to laugh out loud for that one.

 

* * *

 

“Hyung, you could just tutor me in the library…?”

 

Mark Lee was a Korean-Canadian sophomore in the university whom Taeyong met at his Creative Writing class a year ago. As Mark struggled to adjust in the new environment ( _the new country_ ), Taeyong took it upon himself to take care of the younger one. Since then, Taeyong became his self-appointed parent.

 

“No, I think we’ll do better here. Do you want coffee?”

 

“I—“

 

“Strawberry smoothie great I’ll be right back—“

 

Taeyong all but ran to the counter, leaving Mark stupefied. The sophomore looked for a table they could stay in, bringing out his notebook. He’s been struggling with his Lyrics class lately, initially thinking it was just a case of writer’s block. When nothing was coming into fruition, he sought out Taeyong’s help.

 

Staring at Taeyong at the counter, struggling and red-faced and very much shy, Mark was suddenly hit by a wave of inspiration. Taeyong had a _crush_ on the Japanese co-captain taking his coffee orders. As he walked back towards Mark, the older Korean’s smile was brighter and his eyes a bit more sparkly. Maybe it wasn’t just a crush after all.

 

_“One iced Americano and one strawberry smoothie for Taehyun!”_

 

And maybe Taeyong was deeper than he thought he would be.

 

* * *

 

“Taeyongie, are we _ever_ going to order?”

 

Johnny Seo towered over Taeyong like the tall man he is. Taeyong thinks there was something in Chicago that had Johnny growing like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk; Johnny just thinks he’s ridiculous. They’ve been friends since freshman year, yet with Johnny being an athlete, they rarely ever got to hang out like this.

 

“Yes, just—give it five more minutes?”

 

“Five minu— _why?!_ ”

 

The smaller male grunted and went back to his phone, glancing at the counter every ten seconds. Furrowing his brows, Johnny turned and looked at the counter. There wasn’t anyone there but the big-eyed junior Ji Hansol and the other junior with the really nice voice ( _Moon something?_ ). He looked back, wondering why Taeyong was even glancing at them. Did he have a crush on any of them?

 

Impossible.

 

He looked back at the counter just as Yuta came rushing out of the employee area, hastily tying his apron. He heard the chair at their table scrape and he looked back at Taeyong, only to see an empty chair in his wake and the other male already at the counter.

 

Where Yuta was manning the register.

 

Glancing at the two other employees, Johnny saw them giggling and grinning while looking at Taeyong and Yuta. And it was then that everything finally clicked. Johnny was already smirking at Taeyong—eerily similar to the smirks Jaehyun was throwing him two days ago—when he sat back down.

 

“ _So_ …Nakamoto huh?”

 

_"One café latte and one iced Americano for Taehyung!”_

 

Lee Taeyong didn’t have an answer for that.

 

* * *

 

“Doyoung-ah,  _please_ leave me alone.”

 

“How about no, hyung.”

 

Ever since Jaehyun and Johnny told him about Taeyong’s crush, Doyoung wanted to see what he did first hand. The other two didn’t want to tell him who it was so Doyoung took it upon himself to join Taeyong in one of his coffee runs. For all intents and purposes, Doyoung was a nice enough kid. He took care of others when need to be, never forgot to check in from time to time, and called his brother every day. But Doyoung also had a sharp tongue. And Lee Taeyong was not in the mood to be roasted by Doyoung in front of the guy he’s trying to impress.

 

When they stepped inside the café, Taeyong’s eyes immediately went to the counter. A smile unconsciously made its way to his face when Yuta was already there. Before he could take a step forward, Doyoung was already walking towards Yuta.

 

“Doyoung, wait—“

 

“Nakamoto! Still parading around like a shoujo manga prince? Got your head checked for your delusions?”

 

Taeyong sucked in a breath. _This_ was why he didn’t want Doyoung with him.

 

“No. Got your head checked for the amount of dye on your head? I’m surprised your scalp hasn’t burned yet.”

 

Taeyong gasped. He couldn’t believe Yuta just shot back at his sharp-tongued friend. Shaking his head, he approached Doyoung to pull him out and possibly not show his face _ever again_ , when he saw a playful grin on both of their faces.

 

What?

 

“Asshole. I’m here visiting my _princely_ roommate and you can’t even appreciate that?”

 

“Fuck you, I know you’re not the one paying. And stop calling me princely. It makes me want to puke. Preferably in your drink.”

 

Doyoung laughed out loud and pulled Taeyong. He pushed the older male—still in a state of disbelief—to the front and let him deal with Yuta.

 

“Oh, it’s you. Is Doyoung your friend? Tell me if he’s giving you a hard time okay?”

 

The smile took his breath away. He wasn’t actually sure what happened after that, but the next minute, he was already at the table with Doyoung and the receipt in hand.

 

_“One iced lemon tea and one iced Americano for Taeyung!”_

 

Doyoung did not shut up after that.

 

* * *

 

The next time Taeyong visited _Red Thread_ , he was alone.

 

His friends haven’t stopped teasing him since they all found out about his (not-so-little) crush on Yuta. Frankly speaking, it was giving him quite the headache. Then again, he figured he should’ve seen this coming, considering he’s never told them about Yuta until they went to the café he worked in. Besides, it wasn’t like he went to every game the soccer team had ( _which he actually did, but always sat where nobody could see him—_ ).

 

Taking a deep breath, he made his way to the counter where he saw Yuta already waiting for him with a smile.

 

“Hello again.”

 

“Hi. Um, I’d like an—“

 

“Iced Americano, one brown sugar. Right?”

 

Taeyong stood stunned. He never realized Yuta had memorized his order. With the amount of customers that came in and out of the coffee shop, Taeyong was sure he’s just one of the many faces that visited _Red Thread_.

 

“I—Yes.”

 

“Okay. Taeyong, right?”

 

At that, Taeyong furrowed his eyebrows. In the past few days, the Japanese always seemed to misspell his name, one way or another. And while his friends told him that Yuta couldn’t even spell his name right, Taeyong let it pass and just dismissed it as Yuta being a foreigner still.

 

“Yes…Uh, can I ask a question?”

 

The Japanese hummed, busy writing his name on the cup, before facing him with the bright smile again.

 

“If you know how to spell my name, why did you always spell it incorrectly?”, Taeyong asked timidly.

 

“Ah,” Yuta said sheepishly, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment ( _which Taeyong found quite adorable_ ), “I…wanted you to approach me again and correct your name? Hansol told me it would work. I…uh…I planned on asking you out if you did or even get your number because I’m actually too shy to approach you for anything else. And I never see you in my games but you’re always at Johnny’s basketball games so I thought I could invite you to watch ours and oh my god I’m rambling I’m sorry—“

 

Taeyong giggled at that. Well at least he wasn’t the only shy one in this. Someone cleared their throat from behind him, and he turned to see a line already forming. Apologising and bowing, he handed Yuta his payment and gave him a smile, before standing at the ‘Claim’ counter and waited for his iced Americano.

 

_“Two iced Americanos for Taeyong!”_

**Author's Note:**

> First NCT fanfic ahhahahaa why. Basically the barista!Yuta AU no one asked for lol. This was inspired by the coffee shop thing Yuta did with Abnormal Summit. Haven't written fanfic in a long while so I'm sorry if it isn't up to expectations;;


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